The High Court lifted the temporary restraining order it earlier issued in connection with a petition questioning the proclamation of Hagedorn, three-term mayor of Puerto Princesa before he ran for Palawan governor last year but lost.
The Supreme Court justices, with the exception of Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and Justice Adolf Azcuna, said the prohibition of a fourth term for elective officials apply only to regular elections and not to any other polls, like recall elections.
"Any subsequent election, like a recall election, is no longer covered by the prohibition. First, a subsequent election like recall is no longer an immediate re-election after three consecutive terms. Second, the intervening period constitutes an involuntary interruption in the continuity of service," the tribunal said in its 27-page decision.
"In summary, we hold that Hagedorn is qualified to run in the Sept. 24 recall election for mayor of Puerto Princesa," it added, citing four reasons.
The reasons: Hagedorn was not running for "immediate re-election"; his continuity of service was interrupted from June 2001 to September 2002; term limits should be construed strictly; and it is not actually a fourth term for Hagedorn.
Hagedorn topped the recall election with 20,238 votes, besting incumbent Mayor Victorino Dennis Socrates who got 17,220 votes, and Vicente Sandoval with 13,241 votes.
Citing loss of confidence in Socrates’ leadership, 346 barangay officials of Puerto Princesa signed a resolution for his recall during a preparatory recall assembly last July 2.